A true Olympic sport

Like so many people across the world, I have tried to watch as much of the Olympics as I can, and have enjoyed the many intriguing storylines: Michael Phelps going for eight gold medals, the "Redeem Team" trying to avenge their poor showing at the Athens games, 41-year old Dara Torres winning medals against swimmers half her age, and the combined domination of Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin in Women's Gymnastics.

What I did not expect to see was an incredible showing of mental and athletic toughness in the fine Olympic sport of table tennis. Many might say that table tennis is the worst excuse for an Olympic sport, but I'd like to see them try to play this unbelievable sport where the ball travels at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour.

Many people have played table tennis or ping-pong in their basement against family members and friends, but few realize how incredible these athletes are. Table tennis requires not only great arm and upper body strength, but also great mental toughness. A competitor needs to have the calmness and toughness to be able to come back from a large deficit or they will never succeed in this great sport.

Olympic Table Tennis is played in a best of seven set format, where sets are played to 11 points. The game uses rally scoring where a point is scored on every serve. Table Tennis first appeared at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

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